Grace.’
Bergsten sighed again. ‘What a waste,’ he mourned. And then
he collapsed over his saddlebow, howling with laughter.
It was cold in the Tamul Mountains as Ulath and Tynian rode
up into the foothills. The Tamul Mountains were one of those
geographic anomalies which crop up here and there, a cluster
of worn-down, weary-looking peaks with no evident connection
to neighboring and more jagged peaks forested by fir and spruce
and pine. The gentler slopes of the Tamul Mountains were
covered with hardwoods which had been stripped of their leaves
by the onset of winter.
The two knights rode carefully, staying in the open and
making enough noise to announce their presence. ‘It’s very
unwise to startle a Troll,’ Ulath explained.
‘Are you sure they’re out there?’ Tynian asked as they wound
deeper into the mountains.
Ulath nodded. ‘I’ve seen tracks – or places where they’ve tried
to brush out their traces – and fresh dirt where they’ve buried
their droppings. Trolls take pains to conceal their presence from
humans. It’s easier to catch supper if it doesn’t know you’re
around.’
‘The Troll-Gods promised Aphrael that their creatures
wouldn’t eat humans any more.’
‘It may take a few generations for that notion to sift down
into the minds of some of the stupider Trolls – and a Troll can
be fearfully stupid when he sets his mind to it. We’d better stay
alert. As soon as we get up out of these foothills, I’ll perform
the ceremony that calls the Troll-Gods. We should be safe after
that. It’s these foothills that are dangerous.’
‘Why not just perform the ceremony now. ?’
Ulath shook his head. ‘Bad manners. You’re not supposed to
call on the Troll-Gods until you’re up higher – up in real Troll
country.’
‘This isn’t Troll country, Ulath.’
‘It is now. Let’s find a place to camp for the night.’
They built their camp on a kind of stair-stepped bench so that
they had a solid cliff to their backs and a steep drop to the front.
They took turns standing watch, and as the first faint light of
dawn began to wash the darkness out of the overcast sky,
Tynian shook Ulath awake. ‘There’s something moving around
in the brush at the foot of the cliff,’ he whispered.
Ulath sat up, his hand going to his axe. He cocked his head
to listen. ‘Troll,’ he said after a moment.
‘How can you tell?’
‘Whatever’s making all the noise is doing it on purpose. A
deer wouldn’t crash around like that, and the bears have all
denned up for the winter. The Troll wants us to know he’s
there.’
‘What do we do?’
‘Let’s build up the fire a bit – let him know that we’re awake.
We’ve got a touchy situation here, so let’s not move too fast.’
He pushed his blankets aside and rose to his feet as Tynian piled
more limbs on the fire.
‘Should we invite him in to get warm?’ Tynian asked.
‘He isn’t cold.’
‘It’s freezing, Ulath.’
‘That’s why he’s got fur. Trolls build fires for light, not heat.
Why don’t you go ahead and get started with breakfast? He’s
not going to do anything until full daylight.’
‘It’s not my turn.’
‘I have to keep watch. ‘
‘I can keep watch as well as you can.’
‘You wouldn’t know what to look for, Tynian.’ Ulath’s tone
was reasonable. It usually was when he was talking his way out
of doing the cooking.
The light grew gradually stronger. It was a process that is
always strange. A man can be looking directly at a dark patch
in the surrounding forest and suddenly realize that he can see
trees and rocks and bushes where there had been only darkness
before.
Tynian brought Ulath a plate of steaming ham and a chunk
of leathery-crusted bread. ‘Leave the ham on the spit,’ Ulath
told him.
Tynian grunted, picked up his own plate, and joined his friend
at the front edge of the rocky shelf. They sat and kept watch on
the birch forest that ran down the steep slope beneath them as
they ate. ‘There he is,’ Ulath said gravely, ‘right beside that big
rock.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Tynian replied. ‘I see him now. He blends right in,
doesn’t he?’
‘That’s what being a Troll is all about, Tynian. He’s a part of
the forest.’
‘Sephrenia says that we’re distantly related to them.’
‘She’s probably right. There aren’t really all that many differences
between us and the Trolls. They’re bigger, and they have
a different diet is about all.’
‘How long is this likely to take?’
‘I have no idea. As far as I know, this has never happened
before.’
‘What’ll he do next?’
‘As soon as he’s sure we know he’s there, he’ll probably try
to communicate in some way.’
‘Does he know that you speak Trollish?’
‘He might. The Troll-Gods are acquainted with me, and they
know that I run in the same pack with Sparhawk.’
‘That’s an odd way to put it.’
‘i’m trying to think like a Troll. If I can get it right, I might be
able to anticipate what he’s going to do next.’
Then the Troll shouted up the hill to them.
‘What did he say?’ Tynian asked nervously.
‘He wants to know what he’s supposed to do. He’s very
confused.’
‘He’s confused? What about me?’
‘He’s been told to meet us and take us to the Troll-Gods. He
doesn’t have any idea of our customs or the proper courtesies.
We’ll have to guide him through this. Put your sword back in
its sheath. Let’s not make things any worse than they already
are.’ Ulath stood up, being careful not to move too fast. He
raised his voice and called to the creature below in Trollish.
‘Come to this child of Khwaj which we have made. We will take
eat together and talk of what we must do.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘I invited him to join us for breakfast.’
‘You did what? You want a Troll that’s no more than a few
feet from you to start eating?’
‘It’s a precaution. It would be discourteous of him to kill us
after he’s taken food from us.’
‘Discourteous? That’s a Troll out there, Ulath.’
“just because he’s a Troll doesn’t mean that he has bad
manners. Oh, I almost forgot. When he comes into camp, he’ll
want to sniff us. It’s polite to sniff him as well. He won’t smell
very nice, but do it anyway. Trolls do that so that they’ll recognize
each other if they ever meet again.’
‘I think you’re losing your mind.’
“just follow my lead, and let me do the talking.’
‘What else can I do, you clot? I don’t speak Trollish,
remember?’
“you don’t? What an amazing thing. I thought every educated
man spoke Trollish. ‘
The Troll approached cautiously, moving smoothly up
through the birch forest. He used his arms a great deal as he
moved, grasping trees to pull himself along, moving with his
whole body. He was about eight and a half feet tall and had
glossy brown fur. His face was simian to a degree, though he
did not have the protruding muzzle of most apes, and there was
a glimmer of intelligence in his deep-sunk eyes. He came up
onto the bench where the camp lay and then squatted, resting
his forearms on his knees and keeping his paws in plain sight.
I have no club,’ he half-growled.
Ulath made some show of setting his axe aside and held out
his empty hands. ‘I have no club,’ he repeated the customary
greeting. ‘Undo your sword-belt, Tynian,’ he muttered. ‘Lay it
aside.’
Tynian started to object, but decided against it.
The child of Khwaj you have made is good,’ the Troll said,
pointing at their fire. ‘Khwaj will be pleased.’
It is good to please the Gods,’ Ulath replied.
The Troll suddenly banged his fist on the ground. ‘This is not
how it should be!’ he declared in an unhappy voice.
no,’ Ulath agreed, dropping down into a squat much like the
Troll’s, ‘it is not. The Gods have their reasons for it, though.
They have said we must not kill each other. They have also said
we must not eat each other.’
‘I have heard them say it. Could we have misunderstood
them?’
‘I think we have not.’
‘Could it be that their minds are sick?’
‘It is possible. We must still do as they tell us, though.’
‘What are you two talking about?’ Tynian asked nervously.
‘We’re discussing philosophy,’ Ulath shrugged.
Tynian stared at him.
‘It’s fairly complex. It has to do with whether or not we’re
morally obliged to obey the Gods if they’ve gone crazy. I’m
saying that we are. Of course my position’s a little tainted by
self-interest in this particular situation.’
‘Can it not speak!’ the Troll asked, pointing at Tynian. ‘Are
those bird-noises the only sounds it can make?’
‘The bird-noises pass for speech among those of our kind.